1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and reproducing digital signals on a magnetic tape and, more particularly, to an improvement thereof which can properly record and reproduce digital signals even when wow and flutter are present.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A digital recording and reproducing apparatus, known as a digital tape recorder, has been proposed in various systems, one of which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. 92410/1984 issued May 28, 1984 (a counterpart issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,531 on Sept. 24, 1985, and a counterpart EPC application was published as A1 109837 on May 30, 1984).
According to this reference, a digital audio signal is pulse code modulated (PCM) into a k bit signal to be recorded on a magnetic tape having n tracks. The signals in each track are processed serially in a digital manner making it possible to share the hardware between the tracks, and at the same time, enabling the utilization of circuits in the IC form.
According to the prior art apparatus, such as disclosed in the above identified reference, the circuit is operated by clock pulses .phi.1, .phi.2 and .phi.3 each having a fixed frequency. Therefore, when a tape flutter should take place caused by a speed change of the tape, jitter and wow may take place. In such a case, the circuit can not properly record or reproduce the digital signal, resulting in a high rate of error.